November Undercurrent: And We Give Thanks

[lifeaftr_mods]

NOVEMBER UNDERCURRENT

Who: Everyone!
What: Have you told someone you loved them yet?
When: November 3rd to November 20th
Where: Everywhere!
Warnings: Nothing of note; please mark if anything comes up!

Take Me Back to the Reasons Why
The Water wishes to demonstrate their power to you, as well as just what they mean, when they suggest that they require your cooperation. They are going to bring back the harvest island of Nuidan, a generally fondly remembered island that explorers have encountered in the past. What's more, they're going to require your help to do it.

Starting November 3rd, characters will discover a simple strip of dark leather among their belongings, meant to be worn around the neck or wrist. They can disregard it, of course, but if they attempt to discard or destroy it, it will always find its way back to them, no matter how improbable this might seem. How strange...

Perhaps even stranger is the sudden appearance of a smooth slab of stone, half-submerged in the waters just off of Ensō's coast. It's an altar, and around its edges are a series of deep notches, as though something is meant to be inserted into them. In its center is a pool of water, though it curiously doesn't seem to reflect anything.

The purpose of this will only really become obvious once the month goes on. Characters will find themselves to compelled to be honest with the people around them as to why they care, why they appreciate them as people, or what they like most about them. This compulsion can vary wildly and at the player's discretion, from a gentle mental pressure to an unstoppable force, and anything in between!

The bottom line is that every time one admits to some feeling of gratitude, no matter how small or big, their little plait of leather will receive a crystal from the interaction. All crystals will be roughly the same shape, but they may vary in color, pattern, and texture. Some might be simple sticks of quartz, while others might be comprised of myriad, ever-changing swirls of color. Again, the only limit here is your imagination. Now the presence of that strange, altar-shaped stone in the water might make a bit more sense. Those notches in its sides are the perfect size and shape to fit a crystal smoothly into any one of them. The more grateful interactions one has with others, the more crystals they will gather, and the more they can fit into the altar. As more crystals are fed to the altar, it will start to glow. The pool of water at the altar's top will start to reflect the likeness island of Nuidan in increasing clarity, as though one is peering at its likeness in a snowglobe. What's more is that the number of crystals in the altar will very obviously affect Nuidan's state: very few crystals will make the island look as though it is mostly wilderness only a handful of structures in dire need of repair, while a great deal of crystals will cause the island to look as though it is thriving, in full bloom, and in more need of harvest than maintenance.

But, ultimately, the state in which Nuidan returns to you is up to you...and how far you're willing to go to express a little gratitude. Don't worry if you don't know anyone, either - this marks a great opportunity to start doing nice things for people, even if you don't know them! You've got most of the month to get to know each other, after all.

Don't think you can get away with heaping compliments on your closest friends and companions, however; variety is the name of the game here. While you can collect all sorts of crystals for personal use from repeat interactions, you can only feed one crystal to the altar per person. That is to say, Character A can be as grateful to Character B as they like, but only one crystal from each character can be delivered to the altar. If they want to procure more for the altar's purposes, Character A will have to have a positive interaction with Character C, and so on.

Take Me Back to That Big Sky

Of course, there's a lot going on in the background as well. You're free to use this log as a catch-all for the duration of November's Undercurrent Event, as well as the other minor events listed on our Monthly Rundown post. You are very, very free to let your dreams about creepers and baby lorbies become reality, and you are always free to create your own individual logs and posts as needed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them over on our Monthly Rundown post!

November Timeline

[ ♆ ] November 3rd: "And We Give Thanks" begins and lasts until November 20th
[ ♆ ] November 4th: "Aw, Man" begins and lasts until November 12th
[ ♆ ] November 11th: "The Lorblings" begins and lasts until November 25th
[ ♆ ] November 20th: Nuidan returns to the archipelago
[ ♆ ] November 21st: "Return to Your Roots" begins and lasts until November 30th

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

a

[reflash]

"... Ginko-san?" Yukio's voice is quiet, but not hesitant. There's clearly something wrong, something that's caught the man's attention. But there isn't anything obviously here, nothing that Yukio can see or smell, so that means it's something... else.

"Are you all right?"

[onegreeneye]

Ginko startles, just slightly, as if he wasn't really expecting to be addressed. Which might be misleading, as it could be taken to imply that he was expecting not to be addressed - which also isn't true.

He shakes himself, though, when he sees Yukio, and gives a quick nod. "--Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Not like he's been acting weird or anything.

[reflash]

Yukio isn't quite satisfied by that explanation, not with the years of alertness his exorcist training has hammered into him.

"You seemed unusually distracted."

[onegreeneye]

The moment it takes him to process that... might just prove Yukio's point. But also:

"Unusually?"

Maybe a joke, maybe not.

[reflash]

"I don't see anything that should demand your full attention." Yukio explains, looking around again.

[onegreeneye]

"Ah-- right, right. Don't worry about that." It's only then, actually, that it occurs to him that people might think his staring off at who-knows-what means there might be something they should be concerned with. Whoops.

He makes something of an effort at a reassuring smile, but it's weak and empty. "I was just thinking about something. Sorry about that."

[reflash]

Oh. Yukio knows about being lost in thought, and Ginko's expression isn't reassuring. But... it isn't like he has any idea what he could do that would help.

"If you say so..." He isn't going to be so rude as to call Ginko out on that.

"I'm sorry if I'm intruding, but is there anything I could do to help?"

[onegreeneye]

He does appreciate not being called out directly - even though (particularly because?) Yukio's response is vaguely embarrassing as it is.

Ginko waves that question off with a lopsided shrug. "Don't know that it needs to be helped with - but I'm glad you asked."

Wait. Had he meant to say that last part like that? It seems a little more than the standard, brief thanks he would normally give.

[reflash]

His tail flicks behind him, a little bit of a wag.

"If there's anything I can do, I'd like to help."

[onegreeneye]

Ginko actually notices that, and it's... bizarrely encouraging, enough so for him to meet Yukio's insistence with a faint smile.

"Wish I could tell you something, but I think I'm just overwhelmed. Which-- actually, if you've got time to help me out with some work, I'd appreciate that." As happy as he would be to shoulder every task he could potentially take on on his own, maybe... maybe it could help to have someone else working with him. And he certainly doesn't want Yukio to think his offer is being ignored.

[reflash]

"Of course." There goes his tail, just a little bit more active now. He doesn't seem to notice.

"I'm always willing to help you out. There's no reason for you to get overwhelmed with work." Actually wait that sounded weird?? He's just going to pretend it didn't.

[onegreeneye]

A part of Ginko - one that has nothing to do with the magical effects of any mysterious pieces of leather - wants to disagree with that, even though Yukio is probably right. By definition, if he's overwhelmed himself with work, it means he's probably overshot the degree of distractions responsibilities he'd aimed for.

"...Thanks. I was actually heading out to check on some mushroom patches in the wetlands, if you've seen those yet." And, without really thinking about it, he adds, "As long as you've got time for it. Don't need you taking on too much, either."

[reflash]

"I'd like to come with you," Yukio says, maybe a little too easily but he doesn't feel much like trying to dodge around it right now. That tail is absolutely wagging now, but he doesn't notice.

"I always have time to learn from someone who knows more than I do."

[onegreeneye]

"Great. The more of us know where to find those, anyway, the better."

He starts off toward the wetlands, keeping a slow pace and making sure Yukio follows, and gives a soft, slightly startled laugh. "Well, I'm glad to do my best to teach you. ...Speaking of which, I'd appreciate it if you could teach me more medical techniques sometime. You seem more accomplished at that than some doctors my age."

[reflash]

"I'm still not anywhere near ready to teach anyone," Yukio is instantly flustered at the praise, words coming out in a startled tumble as his face goes a little blue with an embarrassed flush.

"I'm really still learning myself, Dr. West was teaching me in the Carnival and I knew some things from my exorcist training, but I still have a lot to learn! Not that I won't teach you, but I really don't deserve that kind of praise."

That's a lot, too fast and too true and he ducks his head a little to try and hide how flustered the praise makes him. He's heard things before, heard how good he is and how qualified, he was chosen to take over teaching after Father Fujimoto died, and it never felt this much like he needed to qualify it, to explain it away. But this is different somehow, and he doesn't know if it's everything that's been messing with his head, or the person who's saying it, or the fact that he's really not where he wants to be in his studies, or what, but he's thrown off his game.

[onegreeneye]

Ginko's tail thumps on the ground with some faint surprise; he knows Yukio can be a little wound-up at times, but he wouldn't have expected him to react so strongly to an offhand compliment, genuine as it was.

"Well, I don't want to push it if you don't want to. I know you've got too much integrity to be comfortable trying to teach something you don't feel qualified to." Another few words more than he intended, and he looks a little startled himself, for a moment. "--But, uh... I would appreciate it if you'd be up to trying."

[reflash]

He mostly manages to rein in his overreaction, though his tail keeps wagging behind him like he's some kind of overexcited puppy. It slows somewhat when Ginko says integrity. That isn't a trait Yukio feels like he has, even though he tries to make it seem like he does.

"Of course. I'll do my best to teach you whatever I can."

[onegreeneye]

"I appreciate that." He gives a small, grateful nod as he says that.

They're getting close, now, to where Ginko was going to begin with, so he pauses briefly to take a look around and double-check that they're on the right track. "We should be getting close, by the way - about time to start keeping an eye out for mushrooms."

[reflash]

"Just one?" There you go, Ginko. Yukio's sense of humor.

[onegreeneye]

Ginko actually... doesn't laugh, exactly? But he does let out a quiet huff that might sound kind of like a laugh. Good news, that's also his sense of humor. "Well, I'm only used to having one to work with."

[reflash]

Yukio knows that sort of reaction. It's not a full laugh, but he wouldn't have expected one, and his tail chops through a tuft of grass as he turns his full attention towards looking for mushrooms.